Burnsall to Pateley Bridge

29 June 2011 - Burnsall to Pateley Bridge

Distance - 11.4 miles

Weather - Sunny

We stayed at - Foxfield, Ripon Road, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, HG3 5NJ Cost - £69.00

We left Burnsall with a couple of useful pieces of information - firstly, that there were plenty of places to eat at Pateley Bridge and secondly, the pub at our halfway point, Greenhow, was shut. We therefore purchased some provisions at the village shop before heading off.

Hills around Skyreholme

Back over the beautiful bridge and a mile later, through Appletreewick, then past some cottages in the vicinity know as Skyreholme. This area is overlooked by hills with crags called 'Simon's Seat', 'The Devil's Apronful', 'Lord's Seat' and so on. The road had a lot of "up" here, and gradually turned into a farm track, then ended with a footpath suggesting which direction we might like to walk in. It was just a suggestion, as was the path.

We just kept trying to get to where the path was supposed to be, using the GPS and eventually one grudgingly began to come into view. We followed it off the moor and onto the road, near to Stump Cross Caverns. These are some of the most spectacular caves in Britain. Apparently. We never walked the mile and back to them, being lazy, and having flapjacks to protect us from the lure of its tearoom.

Post Industrial landscape

The last five miles to Pateley Bridge was a pleasant stroll through post industrial landscape, with disused mines at every turn, and farms etc.

Views from B&B

Alistair discovered how daft his questions about eateries in Pateley Bridge must have sounded: - a farm just outside had a tea room; the first building we saw was a pub, serving food; across from it was another tearoom; round the corner was a pizza shop and we hadn't gone past the 'welcome' sign yet! The B&B had a big room, with views going for miles down Nidderdale